Simple Men
by JKrlin
Summary: Canderous Ordo, Jango Rozatta Fett, Jaing Durge, and Artus Lok are the reborn forms of their Mandalorian namesakes. They play the roles of the members of Team CRDL. Remnant will be changed forever by the actions and machinations wrought by a few simple men merely trying to make their way through the universe.
1. Chapter 1

Jaune Arc was proud to freely proclaim that, aside from his years as a drooling infant, he has never, once in his life, wet his pants.

That changed when Jaune entered Beacon Academy's dueling ring to fight the leader of Team CRDL.

Jaune crouched and curled into himself, hiding behind his shield. Bolts of Dust-infused energy peppered the shield like a merciless hail storm. The forceful bursts of fire pushed Jaune's entire body back across the arena floor, inch by inch. The nonstop sound of blaster-fire deafened his ears. Some bolts whipped through locks of his hair. Others singed his toes, knees, and elbows that inevitably stuck just outside of his shield's protective border.

Sweat was already making Jaune's baggy clothes stick uncomfortably against his skin. Wetting his pants didn't help matters. When Jaune's back finally hit the wall surrounding the arena, he knew he was beyond screwed.

The unforgiving onslaught finally subsided. Jaune risked a peek at his opponent.

"Pathetic!" the walking tank scoffed. His face was hidden under his helmet, and Jaune was thankful for that. His armor actually looks pretty cool. It's what lay underneath that would have made Jaune's bladder situation even worse. He could only imagine how scary an unmasked, bloodthirsty Canderous would look like. "Goodwitch, I thought you said this was going to be a worthwhile learning experience? The only thing I've learned today is that Jaune Arc is an incompetent coward who puts his bloodline to shame."

"That's Professor Goodwitch, Mister Ordo." Goodwitch walked to the center of the stage. "And if I recall correctly, I specifically disallowed any banter, goading, or insults to be had in this class."

Goodwitch turned to the rest of the class in the arena stands. She was giving a lecture, but Jaune was too busy looking at smoke fizzle into the air from the barrel of Canderous' heavy repeater. The way that you could just make out the shine of Canderous' T-shaped visor through the smoke absolutely unnerved Jaune. There was too big a chance that Canderous would start revving up his giant gun again if Jaune looked away.

"… wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf," Professor Goodwitch was saying, turning to Jaune, "now would we?"

Canderous lifted his gun and let the barrel rest against his shoulder. "Why not?" he snorted. "A Beowolf cub would put up a better fight than the Arc can. At least cubs bare their fangs and sharpen their claws when they're cornered."

"Mister Ordo," Goodwitch repeated. "Your victory against Mister Arc does not excuse you from the rules on how to respectfully conduct yourself and your peers during dueling class. Watch your language."

"Respect isn't warranted until you've earned it," Canderous countered. "What has the Arc done to earn respect for himself?"

"He survived initiation," Professor Goodwitch said with a notable edge to her voice. "Headmaster Ozpin approved his enrollment into Beacon, just as he approved yours and every other student in this academy. Do you doubt the Headmaster's judgement?"

Canderous finally relented. He lowered his repeater and turned on the safety. "No, I don't. You have a point there, Professor Goodwitch."

"I do. Now, return to the stands before you say something else that will land you in detention." In a gruff silence, Canderous did as he was told. Goodwitch set her icy sights on Jaune. A shocking shiver flowed through his body. "Go on, Mister Arc. Your Aura levels are still stable enough to get you back to your team, as well, I would imagine."

Jaune took the opportunity and made a mad dash for the staircase. The moment he plopped down beside his teammates, all his worries disappeared. Fatigue and exhaustion aside, he immediately felt safe, even if Nora's "supportive" bear hug probably dropped Jaune's Aura levels to zero.

"That was awesome!" Nora screamed into his already deafened ears. "That shield took like a thousand shots! You weren't kidding, Jauny. Crocea Mors is definitely an oldie but a goodie!"

"Nora," Ren warned as he pulled her off Jaune. "Give him some space. I think he needs some breathing room."

Ruby, seated alongside her team on the aisle above Jaune, lightly punched him in the back. "You gave a good effort, Jaune," she said brightly. At Jaune's involuntary wince and groan, Ruby retracted her fist. "Uh, sorry."

Jaune slumped forward and buried his head in his arms. He felt a hand place itself on his shoulder. "There's always next time, Jaune," Pyrrha assured.

A familiar barking laugh caused Jaune to shudder. He looked up from his lap and saw Canderous setting down on the seat below him. "Next time, learn how to draw your sword instead of solely hiding behind that shield of yours." Canderous patted his repeated for emphasis. "You're lucky I was using one of my older models. A fully upgraded and customized heavy repeater can fire two hundred rounds per minute with no jamming, reloading, or overheat."

That's absurd! "What kind of Grimm needs that kind of firepower to take down?" Jaune questioned in incredulity.

"The kind that I plan on killing," Canderous answered with an excitement that disturbed Jaune far more than their duel did, "and making sure that stay dead."

The rest of Team CRDL glanced at Jaune. Even though they all wore their own stylized helmets with T-shaped visors, Jaune could clearly see them passing judgement on him. He's weak. He's a chump. He's not good enough. Lord knows there's been plenty of people that's judged Jaune like that for years. His dad, his disappointed teachers, the schoolyard bullies...

Team CRDL was different, though. They were big and intimidating, for sure, but CRDL never came across as actual mean-spirited bullies. They actually reminded Jaune of his older sisters who were Huntresses; highly skilled prodigies, and with a not-very-high tolerance for ineptitude and monkey business.

Jaune didn't blame Canderous for his harsh words. Canderous was like Pyrrha. They were already on the fast track to becoming fully-fledged Huntsmen and Huntresses. A guy like Jaune would just slow them down.

But Jaune's already double-downed. He's a student attending Beacon Academy with weapons, an active Aura, a team, friends, and a paid scholarship thanks to those doctored transcripts. There's no turning back for him.

These solemn thoughts filled Jaune's head all the way to the lunch hour. At the cafeteria, Nora was finishing up another retelling of that weird dream she kept having when Pyrrha and Ruby asked aloud about the depressed air lingering around him.

"Guys, I'm fine!" Jaune insisted, putting up a fake smile. Jaune was pretty good at faking convincing smiles, if he said so himself. "Seriously!" At everyone's unimpressed and concerned looks, Jaune avoided their gazes and turned away. His eyes spotted Team CRDL at a nearby table. The team member with the red cape draped over his back and gold rings around his fingers was flirting with a bunny-eared Faunus girl.

"Jaune," Pyrrha said in a firm tone that brokered no interruption, "Canderous has been picking on you since the first week of school."

Weiss made a cute pout that Jaune watched and committed to memory. "What do you expect?" she asked contemptuously. "Not even five days after the school year started, Jaune spilled gallons worth of water all over Canderous' weapons."

Jaune was just trying to refill his water bottle! It's not like it was his fault that the first water dispenser lost balance and caused the entire row of dispensers to fall over. If anything, it was Canderous' fault for laying so many of his weapons out to show them off to his team. Most of them were waterproof, too, so only a few of his blasters had to be taken to the workshop for serious repairs.

Not like Jaune said any of this to Canderous' face at the time, however.

"Blasters and battle axes of such high grades aren't cheap," Weiss continued haughtily. "I'm surprised Canderous didn't make you pay for the damages. By the Academy code, since you admitted fault, it was well within his right to do so."

Thank God Canderous didn't. Jaune's parents didn't need any more money problems stacking on top of the ones already bleeding them dry.

"It was an accident," Ruby chimed in. Her pout was also a little cute, but Weiss' was the one that made Jaune smile inside. "Jaune, you apologized. It's been weeks. Canderous is a bully."

No, Jaune privately thought to himself, Canderous wasn't really a bully. Jaune has seen his fair share of bullies. He has the physical scars and mental trauma to prove it. Jaune still flinches whenever he flexes his fingers, reminded of the time those thugs had bent them so far back that he had to spend an eternity in the hospital to get his hands fixed. Bullies always try to hurt you where they hope it'll hurt the most. They make sure you can never forget it.

Canderous wasn't like that. He was a jerk who pusheed people around, but he doesn't really try hurt to people. He already knows that he can do it. There's just no point or reward to it for him. If Jaune's learned anything about Canderous in the days since he's met him, Canderous only hurts people as long as there's a good fight to be had. Any of the "weak" kids like Jaune wouldn't put up a very good fight, and the kids that would are more likely to either enjoy the fight themselves or have already earned Canderous' respect.

"Oh, please," Jaune drawled, waving a dismissive hand in Ruby's and Pyrrha's general direction. "Name one time, outside of combat class, that he's bullied me."

"He stole your chemistry book and never returned it," Pyrrha reminded Jaune, as if it was a serious offense against him. Honestly, while Jaune was annoyed about that, Dust chemistry was actually one of his stronger subjects. Jaune was no genius, but with Ren's tutoring, he can make due in Professor Peach's class no problem.

"He messed with your weapons and trapped you in the frame of a doorway," Ruby added. Jaune would have to give them that. Canderous had been hassling Jaune about ruining his blasters. Jaune's had hands instinctively went to his hip, ready to draw up his sword and shield just in case. Canderous must have caught Jaune's movements and quickly hit the button that unfolded his shield. Getting trapped in the doorway made Canderous had burst into laughter, and he had left Jaune stuck there for nearly an hour until Pyrrha figured out that he was missing.

"He trapped you in your locker, set off its rockets, and launched you miles off campus," Pyrrha said. That was also true, but that was also the day Jaune had water-damaged part of Canderous' weapon collection. Canderous' reaction was completely understandable.

Feeling everyone's eyes on him, Jaune chuckled nervously. "I didn't land far from the school."

No one was convinced by Jaune's words, especially Pyrrha. "Jaune," she said, "you know if you ever need help, you can just ask."

"Oooh!" Nora hopped to her feet. "We can break his legs!"

Canderous overheard Nora's declaration and called out, "I'd like to see you try, Valkyrie! If you're not doing anything after Oobleck's class..."

Before Nora could give her exuberant response, Ren pulled her back down. "We're supposed to work on an essay for Oobleck," he reminded her.

Nora expressed a whiny cry. Canderous shrugged. "Your loss." He returned to his food, as did Jaune.

Pyrrha and Ruby looked like they wanted to continue berating Jaune for letting Canderous trounce all over him, but then someone tripped and spilled their tray of food onto Yang's hair. With Yang exploding in a fiery wave of golden energy, the momentum Pyrrha and Ruby had steadily built was lost. Jaune resigned himself to ducking under the lunch table to avoid getting caught in the ensuing food fight.

Later that night, after Jaune admitted his secret to Pyrrha, and after he told her to walk away and leave him alone, Jaune felt just about ready to shut his eyes and walk off the roof, to be the done with the entire charade he's been playing for so long.

As he stared at Beacon's beautiful gloom of a horizon, a dark shape suddenly sped past Jaune's vision. His eyes followed the shape until it landed on the roof. The flames his jetpack were spewing puttered out. The figure shut the door to the stairwell. Leaning against the door, he crossed his arms and faced Jaune, as if daring Jaune to try to get past him.

The visor on the figure's helmet was unmistakable. It wasn't Canderous, but he and the rest of his team climbed over the edge of the roof and had Jaune surrounded.

Canderous didn't bring his armor or helmet. His black tank top did nothing to hide his massive, menacing muscles. His facial scars were even more terrifying up close, and that's not even mentioning his unpleasant, cruel scowl.

"You better tell me that you were playing some sick joke on your partner," Canderous growled, "because if you actually faked your way into this academy, you've got worse things to worry about than Oobleck's essay."

Jaune took a step back, his heart beating at an uncontrollable rate. "C-Canderous, please! I just, uh..."

Canderous placed his hand on Jaune's neck. He didn't immediately crush his throat like Jaune had thought he would, but he certainly wasn't going to let Jaune move away anymore. "'Tired of being the lovable idiot stuck in the tree'? 'Don't want to be the damsel in distress'? 'Want to be a hero'?" Canderous spat to the side in disgust. "Where is that hero now, Arc? Where is the man carrying the legacy of his forefathers? Where is the Huntsman who promised to devote his life to protect his team, himself, and all of humanity from the Grimm?"

The bigger of the two tossed Jaune to the floor. Coughing, Jaune scrambled to his feet, "Just wait a second. I can – I can explain! Please!"

The sneer and the breath that seared past Canderous' teeth smelled awful. "The only reason I've let you run around like a headless chicken for so long is because I assumed this academy could make a solid warrior out of you. Now I learn that you've never even been trained in the basics of combat. You lied and cheated your way into one of the most renowned Huntsmen academies in the world, and you think you can just explain it all away as if it doesn't matter?"

"That's why I'm here!" Jaune screeched. "To learn how to be a warrior! To become a real Huntsman!"

"Carrying the title of Huntsman is not some God-given right anyone can attain. It's a privilege rewarded based on capability and merit. What merit do you have to justify your enrollment in Beacon, Jaune?"

"I'll – I'll show that I have merit! I'll prove my worth here!" Jaune's voice was getting higher pitched. He hoped no one else was eavesdropping on them. "Give me a chance!"

"You had your chance in one of the lower division combat academies!" Canderous countered "Unless there's more liars and cheats that crawled their way into Beacon, every student and professor on this campus fought and bled to earn their place here. They went through the steps, progressing through the lower schools, or like your friend Rose, showed an innate talent that would be better groomed at a more advanced level of teaching."

Canderous took one giant step forward. Jaune took one clumsy step back, tripped over his feet, and dropped to his knees. He couldn't stop his body from shaking as Canderous' shadow fell over him.

"What makes you so special?" Canderous asked.

Jaune knew the answer long before he was given the question.

Nothing.

There was nothing that made Jaune Arc special.

And that was why Jaune cheated his way into Beacon Academy. Like his mom liked to say, people who graduated from Beacon become legends. Jaune wanted to become a legend, to be special.

Canderous wasn't going to let Jaune become someone special.

He was going to let Jaune get kicked out of Beacon.

Jaune couldn't fault Canderous for that.

Before Jaune could answer Canderous' question, Canderous sniffed scornfully. "You want to be a hero, Jaune? Let me give you a history lesson. Pay attention." Canderous gestured to his team members. "You see my brothers? Not brothers by blood, but by common values and traditions. We share the same armor, speak the same language, and always stay united and strong to destroy any threat that seeks to bring harm to our clan." Canderous waved a hand over his face. "Our people have a name. Professor Oobleck spoke of us in today's lesson. Do you know what we were once called?"

Jaune couldn't. Admittedly, he had slept through that class.

" _Mando'ade_ ," Canderous said. "We are Mandalorians. We were once a strong people that struck fear in the hearts of every man, woman, and child, human and Faunus, until the Great War nearly destroyed us. Now, the Mandalorians are scattered and lost, but my team and I were lucky enough to find each other here in Beacon." Canderous glowered his eyes at Jaune. "In our language, we have no word for 'hero.' Any self-respecting Mandalorian has no need for a hero to rise up and do their fighting for him. A good Mandalorian participates in the fight himself, and he does so honorably, inevitably achieving victory."

Canderous sucker punched Jaune. It took Jaune a half-second to realize what Canderous did until his jaw flared in pain. Jaune mumbled inquisitive moans as he tried to set his teeth right.

"We're a dying people, Jaune," Canderous continued, and for once, he sounded almost sad. Then that sadness disappeared as Canderous said, "but we're not dead yet. If have anything to say about it, the Mandalorians will never die. We can't die. Our legacy is not dependent on land, Dust, or infrastructure, but on culture and custom, taught and passed down from brother to brother, sister to sister, generation to generation."

Canderous offered Jaune a smile, and Jaune never felt more fear for his life than ever before. "You want to be a hero, Jaune? I'll give you the next best thing. I'm going to make you a Mandalorian."


	2. Chapter 2

When Ruby snuck out of her bunk to snatch a late-night snack, she didn't expect to see Jaune slumped depressingly against the door to his dorm. Seeing him lock himself out again wasn't what surprised her, though. Seeing him at all was the kicker.

"Hey, Jaune!" Ruby greeted him. He jumped in surprise as he swerved around to face her. "Long time, no–"

Ruby cut herself short. Bandages upon bandages covered his face. One of his eyes was an unhealthy pink with yellowish swelling surrounding it. His bruised nose was off-center, and if that wasn't dried smears of blood along his chin, Ruby didn't know what those were.

Even Yang's worse bouts of street fighting never left her this badly hurt. Jeez, what has Jaune been getting himself into lately?

Jaune instantly put up an annoyingly fake smile. "Oh! Uh, hey Ruby!" At Ruby's prolonged silence, his smile faltered a bit. "Guess I should have been more careful during Professor Port's class, huh? I never liked Boarbatusks. I have an uncle who owns a farm outside the north of Vale, and there's this pack of them that–"

"Don't change the subject, Jaune," Ruby glumly interrupted. A part of her wanted to go back to her bed and forget seeing Jaune look so beaten and putting up a front for himself, but Jaune was her friend. A friend that she didn't know all that well, sure, but a friend nonetheless. "The Boarbatusk couldn't have hurt you this badly. Professor Port would have sent you to infirmary if it did. What happened?"

"I... fell down some stairs," Jaune said meekly. "That's all." Ruby numbly nodded in response, kinda expecting such as lackluster answer.

"What's going on, Jaune?" Ruby asked with a crestfallen sigh. "You've been avoiding, us, your entire team, and hanging out with Canderous all the time."

"Yeah... that's exactly what's going on," Jaune said slowly. "You've seen me during combat classes, Ruby. You've seen Canderous, too. He's been, uh, tutoring me. Y'know?"

No, Ruby didn't. There was tutoring, then there was training, and then there was brutalizing. "You could have asked anyone else," Ruby pointed out. "Ask Pyrrha. She's your partner. She even told you that if you ever needed help with anything, you only need to ask her."

"Don't need to ask if someone's already helping me," Jaune countered. "What happened to my face is wholly my own fault, Ruby. Canderous can be a little heartless sometimes, but..." Jaune chuckled nervously. What was there to laugh about this?! "I really didn't know what I was getting into when I enrolled here. Canderous is showing me what to expect when we eventually go on our independent hunts. Really! My grades have gotten better, too. Look." Jaune started typing on his scroll, but Ruby didn't care about getting better grades if it meant getting mauled and scarred like Jaune had gotten.

"Canderous is a bully, Jaune!" Ruby insisted in a half-shout. "He's hurting you! Better grades aren't worth letting a bully walk all over you. Bullies don't care about anyone. People like Canderous don't care about helping you. All they want is to use you like – like a dog that they beat and barely feed, but the dog stays with them because he doesn't know that he has anywhere else to go to."

Adopting Zwei was still the single best decision Ruby has ever made in her entire, short life.

"There are other people, good people, you can go to for help or tutoring, Jaune," Ruby said softly. "Just go ask them."

Jaune's good eye widened as far as his bandages and injuries allowed. He obviously wasn't expecting Ruby's rant. Neither was Ruby. She rarely had the drive or the nerve to lambast or lecture the few people she considered her friends. Being the leader of her team must be doing herself more good than she gave it credit for.

Before Jaune could respond to Ruby's rant, a voice, slightly modulated by a sound filter, cut in. "You're late, Arc."

Everyone in Team CRDL often wore at least parts of their signature armor when not in class. Canderous had his boots, Jaing had his helmet (which wasn't surprising, considering his blatant Faunus features), and Artus had his cape.

Aside from the times when teachers ordered him to fully wear the school uniform under threat of detention, Jango wore his full set of his armor, from the helmet to the jetpack to the gauntlets, all the time.

Jango casually strolled down the hall, his head tilted so that he looked like he was looking down over Ruby and Jaune. Reaching a hand into one of the satchels on his belt, Jango tossed what looked like a bottle in Jaune's direction.

"The ointment for your skin," Jango said as Jaune clumsily caught the bottle. "Better tell us now if you have any more medical issues to deal with. I don't want to hear that you're also allergic to kath hounds. Allergic reactions from them are deadly, and expensive to treat."

Blinking, Jaune gulped uncomfortably. "I'm fighting kath hounds next?"

"Not fighting. Taming."

"Oh, dear god, why..."

Jango shrugged uncaringly. "It's Canderous' game that he's running. You agreed to play it." Jango glanced at Ruby.

Ruby looked back.

They maintained their mutual gaze.

Ruby felt herself tighten her grip on her pack of crackers, the petty rumbles in her stomach long forgotten. It really has been a long time since they last met. Hasn't it?

"He's waiting, Arc," Jango continued, without looking away from Ruby. "Don't waste his time."

"Right, right." Jaune gave one last grin at Ruby. "I guess I'll see you later, Rubes." He ran off, leaving Ruby and Jango to their stare down.

The colors looked different, with more silver, purple, and blue than khaki, green, and brown. Besides that and the height difference, the armor almost looked like a carbon copy of the set Sheriff Fett had worn when he was still alive. Ruby may be a gun nut, but she's also had her eye on armor designs for a long time, too. Journeyman Protector armor and True Mandalorian armor weren't all that different.

Once upon a time, Yang Xiao-Long and Ruby Rose were going to become Huntresses, and Jango and Arla Fett were going to become Journeyman Protectors. That was the dream, until the Death Watch came to Patch and shattered it.

Finally, Ruby broke the motionless air. "You never found her, did you?" she asked.

Deliberately, Jango shook his head. "I found enough to know what happened. Wherever she is now, Arla is in a better place."

"I'm sorry." Ruby hadn't known Arla Fett too well. She had always been more Yang's friend when they were all growing up. Nonetheless, Ruby had still liked Arla. Arla had taught her and Jango how to recognize a trail a person leaves behind when they walk through a dense forest and on a dirt path. It was the first ever hunting lesson anyone ever taught her.

The Fetts were the first people outside of her family that Ruby would consider as close friends. Year after they were gone from her life, she still made sure that she remembered them.

Jango hardly resembled the little boy who had dove into wrestling bouts with Yang, gotten constantly lectured by Arla, and tagged along with Ruby on their adventures around the Fett homestead. Now, Jango looked like a fully-fledged Mandalorian.

Mandalorians could often be scary individuals, and most of the people who called themselves Mandalorians that Ruby has personally met were, unfortunately, bullies.

"Thank you," Jango said curtly. After what felt like an awkward pause, Jango turned his back to Ruby and began marching away.

"Wait a second!" were the words that blurted out of Ruby's mouth before she could think about it. Partly using her semblance, she dashed to block Jango's path. "What happened to you? Why are you here at Beacon? Why are you trying to become a Huntsman?"

If Ruby didn't already know that she was talking to a human being, she would have thought she was talking to a static, unmoving robot. "A lot can happen in seven years," Jango answered.

"I mean– specifically. The True Mandalorians are supposed to be in Mistral."

The True Mandalorians were a sizable nomadic band of mercenaries, with ties to the original Mandalorians from before the Great War. In a lot of ways, they were a lot like Huntsmen and Huntresses; trotting across Remnant, taking freelance jobs without having to directly answer to a Kingdom, and supporting folks in need of a helping hand. The main difference Ruby has seen between a Huntsman and a Mandalorian is that a Huntsman works for the good of humanity while a Mandalorian works for the good of his fellow Mandalorians.

Ruby followed them on the news. Their energy-based blasters were the most efficient in utilizing the potency of synthesized Dust. Canderous' heavy repeaters were proof of that.

"I'm not with them anymore," Jango explained. "Still a Mandalorian, I suppose. Still use the armor, the language, the customs. It all comes as naturally to me as living and breathing." Jango lifted his head, looking absently over Ruby's head. "After I made my peace with what became of Arla, I stayed with them for a while. I was your age. I didn't have much of the drive or the nerve to leave if I really wanted to. Jaster Mereel – You remember him?"

"A little," Ruby confirmed. Jaster Mereel was the sheriff on Patch before Jango's dad. The Death Watch – another offshoot of the old Mandalorians, except entirely made up of bullies with no exceptions – were hunting Jaster down and wanted him dead. He helped Dad, Uncle Qrow, and Sheriff Fett drive the Death Watch off the island on that unforgettable day seven years ago, but Dad and Uncle Qrow still blamed Jaster for attracting the Death Watch to Patch in the first place.

"He adopted me, formally and everything," Jango went on. "Canderous will talk his head off about the glory, legacy, and duty of a Mandalorian, but I don't really care much for that kind of stuff. Being a True Mandalorian just became a banality of being Jaster's son. After he died..."

Ruby held her peace. Some older students and professors may think Ruby to be a naïve little girl, and she admittedly did have her moments of naivety, but Jango didn't need to say more for her to understand.

"You went to your Aunt Rozatta," Ruby said. Aunt Rozatta was an old, retired Huntress from a generation before Team STRQ. She's a friend to many of the families on Patch, especially with the Fetts... before the Fetts were killed... Aunt Rozatta was Ruby's favorite babysitter as a toddler and her favorite substitute tutor whenever Uncle Qrow was too busy out on a hunt. "She told us that you were back in town. Yang and I looked for you." And they never found him until Beacon's initiation ceremony.

"I noticed," Jango remarked dryly. "Yang didn't try very hard." He wasn't wrong. The search for Jango quickly shifted to another chapter in the search of Raven Branwen for Yang, leaving Ruby alone and without any more potential leads to follow up on. "Seven years ago, we were little kids too scared to leave the sandbox. Now, we're practical strangers. I saw no reason for us to get back in touch."

"We don't have to be strangers, though," Ruby disagreed. "I mean, we're going to the same academy. We go to the same classes. I've just been so busy with leader stuff and getting caught up on all the textbooks I skipped 'cause of my early enrollment to try harder to reach out to you." Getting enrolled into Beacon two years earlier than expected was definitely awesome, but it did have some of its downsides. "We can still be friends," Ruby continued. "You can never have too many friends." Hesitantly, she extended her fist forward. It was a stupid thing they did when they were kids, fist-bumping before doing a convolutedly complicated high-five. To be honest, Ruby wasn't really expecting Jango to return the gesture.

Of course, he didn't. "I didn't come to Beacon to make friends," he said stiffly.

"Then why are you here?" Ruby questioned as she let her arm fall.

"To learn," Jango said simply.

"Learn what?"

Jango didn't answer. He tried to sidestep her, but Ruby moved faster and kept him from walking past her. "Stop trying to avoid me!" Ruby snapped hotly. "Like you said, we aren't kids anymore. We can help each other with each other's problems, just like before, but only if we actually start talking again, like real friends."

"I'm not asking for your help," Jango gritted out sternly. "I've moved on from those days. What can't you? Why worry about me when your friend Arc is in over his head and is fine living as Canderous' personal chew toy?"

Ruby grimaced, but she wasn't going to give up just yet. "Mandalorians are supposed to be all about honor. Where's the honor in turning away a friend who cares about you and only wants to help you? Where's the honor in being a bully? In hurting Jaune and forcing him to avoid his friends? I bet that's stuff a person from the Death Watch would –"

All it took was one step forward from Jango, and the front of his helmet filled all of Ruby's vision. She shuddered slightly and froze in shock. She almost thought Jango was going to headbutt her. "I'm not Death Watch," he affirmed with a dangerous edge seeping through his voice filter. "Team CRDL isn't Death Watch. We aren't dishonorable, petty charlatans that murder, steal, and rape because they think it's their birthright. Don't you ever compare my team or myself to those _aruetyc_ , _dar'manda_ scum. Understand?"

Since Ruby finally broke through Jango's shell, she decided to double-down and stand her ground. "Prove it," she dared, making sure to keep her voice strong and level. "Prove that you aren't a bully like the Death Watch, then." Jango kept trying to push Ruby away. If he held by that principle, then he shouldn't feel as though he owed Ruby any explanation after offending him. If he didn't, then maybe the boy Ruby once knew wasn't quite gone yet.

A rumble came from Jango's helmet, maybe an insulted growl. "You never liked bullies," he said lowly. "Neither do I, but there's a difference between bullying and teaching someone how to grow a backbone."

Now Ruby felt insulted. "You've seen Jaune's face! What kind of teaching is that?"

"The merciful kind," Jango answer calmly. "If you're really worried about Jaune, take your complaints to him and Canderous."

Admittedly, Canderous still kind of scared Ruby, but if Jaune wasn't doing anything about him, Ruby would have to confront him herself.

"If I remember it right," Jango continued, "you want to be a Huntress because you want to become a hero. You want to help people. I don't know what Jaune's told you, but he isn't like you in that regard. He's not in the business of helping people. Amateur that he is, he's in the business of becoming the best."

Ruby frowned. "The best at what?"

"The best Hunter that's ever lived," Jango explained. There was a hint of arrogance in his voice. Ruby has heard enough of that kind of haughty talk from Weiss. "Too bad for him, I'm already the best. Always was. Beacon just doesn't know it yet."

Ruby didn't care much about being the best Huntress around. All she really cared about was making it out of hunts alive, making sure other people also made it out alive, and hopefully having a fantastical, epic adventure all the while doing it.

"Bottom line," Jango said with an air of finality, "we might have started in the same place, but now we're out to accomplish different things. Just don't get in my way, and I won't get in yours."

Suddenly, the door to Team RWBY's dorm opened up. Out walked Yang, who let out an obnoxious yawn. "Hey, can you keep it down? Some of us are trying to sleep in–" Yang cut herself short. She stared at Ruby and Jango in bemusement. She stepped forward, and Ruby just realized how tall Jango had grown during the past seven years. He used to be the shortest of their little gang of friends. Now, with Yang by their side, Ruby could tell that he was even taller than Yang by a couple of inches.

With Yang and Ruby in their pjs and Jango in his full armor, Jango didn't seem all that intimidated by the glare Yang was sending him. When Yang's eyes flashed red for a split second, however, Jango said, "Good to see you, too, Yang." Then Jango made his exit. Ruby didn't try to stop him from walking away.

Yang pulled Ruby back inside their dorm. "I still don't like him," Yang told her little sister plainly as she closed and locked the door. "You do know what the news is saying about Mandalorians these days?"

Some sort of Mandalorian cultural war was going on, Ruby recalled. That war was currently in Mistral, though, far from Vale and Beacon. "He used to our friend," Ruby insisted.

"I don't think that he wants to be our friend anymore," Yang pointed out.

That didn't matter. It was Yang's idea for Ruby to get out of her shell more and to try to be more social, to make more friends. Just like how she couldn't simply give up on Jaune letting himself get pushed around by Canderous, Ruby couldn't let this cold, surly loner take the place of the person that was her very first friend.

Mandalorians were supposed to be stubborn, and tremendously loyal to their family. Ruby'll show Jango that a Huntress can be just as relentless when it comes to taking care of her friends.


	3. Chapter 3

When Blake learned of the field trip to Forever Fall, she had prayed with all her might that they wouldn't run into any of the White Fang's old haunts.

The actual trip brought the class right into one of the more recently abandoned encampments. Everyone was too busy gathering sap from the trees to take a closer look at their surroundings, but Blake immediately recognized the familiar signs. Though the scarlet grass and shrubbery had grown taller, Blake could still see some of the forgotten stems and roots from Peary's makeshift garden. A pair of trees to the south that had scrapes along their trunks indicated the pathway to the nearby springs that White Fang members had used for bathing. To the northeast, there was a boulder partially hidden by red moss. Blake's keen eyes could read out the phrase "the Bull was here" scraped onto the rock.

There was a hill that overlooked the small expanse Blake's class was situated in. Adam had made one of his more memorable speeches while standing on that hill. While Blake had admired Adam for his combat prowess and charismatic boldness when she began working with him, it was on that night that she admitted to herself that she wanted to be more than just Adam's student. Love-struck as she was, Blake thought Adam wanted something similar from her.

The more Blake looked back on it, the more she believed that leaving Adam and the White Fang was still the best decision she could have made.

Forcing those memories away, Blake returned her attention to the matter at hand. While the rest of her team extracted more sap from the trees, she was on guard duty. Professor Goodwitch had warned them about Grimm that may be wandering around the forest. While Blake was confident anyone in the class could take out a meandering, lonesome Grimm if one made itself known, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Though, there was at least one student Blake wasn't as confident about.

"Arc!" Canderous shouted as he turned to look over his shoulder. "I don't recall giving you permission to fraternize with the Rose. Do it on your own time."

With slumped shoulders, Jaune stepped away from Ruby and jogged after the rest of Team CRDL. They were leaving the main group and began to make their way up the hillside.

Blake wasn't one for gossip, but with Yang's and Nora's ceaseless chatter and Ruby's and Pyrrha's constant complaints, it was hard for Blake to ignore the drama revolving around Team JNPR's leader. A small part of Blake encouraged her to keep one ear open to their gossip simply because it vaguely reminded her of the plot of one of her favorite novels.

Jaune was an incompetent fighter, but his honest, friendly demeanor endeared him as Ruby's friend and the obvious subject of Pyrrha's affections. However, Jaune had some sort of falling out with Pyrrha. Though Jaune still spoke with Ruby with some regularity, he was spending less and less time with his own team. Instead, he was consistently hanging out with the members of CRDL; more specifically, Canderous has been "tutoring" Jaune.

Blake couldn't say if Jaune has improved because of the supposed tutoring sessions. As far as she's seen, he was still the gullible klutz as he had first introduced himself as.

"Seriously, Arc," Canderous scoffed in his loud and obnoxious voice, "sometimes I wonder if you aren't a Faunus who's part puppy dog. That sad expression on your face – Tell me, are you physically incapable of growing a backbone, or is it something else?"

Jango Fett – and Blake kept a wary eye on him. When she was still with the White Fang, she had heard uncomfortable rumors about the name "Fett" and the True Mandalorians – didn't give much away through his body language. With his helmeted voice filter on, he said, "Unlikely. I've babysat Faunus pups before. Even pups know how to stand up for themselves."

Artus Lok, the CRDL member wearing a red cape not unlike Ruby's cloak, barked a laugh. "You? Babysitting? I fear the day when the world becomes so stagnant and boring that Mandalorian Huntsmen are relegated to the role of babysitters. A babysitter for pups, no less."

"The pay was good," Jango replied simply. "Besides, someone had to take care of those pups. I know them. Their dad is a pig, and their mother is a bitch."

"Ah, a mixed breed?" Artus questioned playfully. "They must have been ferocious pups. Jaune, you wouldn't actually happen to have any Faunus blood in you? We can probably use that to your advantage."

"If only," Canderous muttered sullenly. "If you _were_ at least partial Faunus, I'd have whipped you into shape weeks ago. Faunus have a killer instinct that you can't quite recreate in a human."

"You're not wrong there," Jango agreed quietly.

Blake scowled darkly in CRDL's direction. Never mind that pig, bitch, and pup were typical slurs against Faunus. The team was playing up the horrible stereotype that mixed Faunus children whose parents weren't the same Faunus type were automatically born violent, mentally unstable, and intrinsically "animalistic." They might be joking and not speaking so seriously, but that stereotype was far, _far_ from the truth.

"We can always ask our own resident Faunus for confirmation," Artus added, elbowing the tallest member of the Mandalorian team. "So, Jaing, does our favorite blonde busboy smell like he's hiding any Faunus characteristics or habits?"

Habits. Like how some people assume dog Faunus piss on fire hydrants and bat Faunus crave drinking blood. The only consistent commonalities between most Faunus that makes them different from humans were the animal body parts and heightened senses. While there may be some – _some_ – Faunus who played into a given stereotype, it wasn't like that was the norm.

Jaing, the hulking, walking, talking monstrosity that easily dwarfed most of the other first-year students in height and weight, also wore full body armor and a helmet. His helmet was composed of a glistening steel material. The helmet he wore today had a compact, rectangular black visor instead of the usual T-shaped one. A long dark, grey pony-tail hung tautly from the top of his head. A pair of giant tusks, about the half the length of his head, protruded from the sides of his helmet. Even if Blake has never seen Jaing's bare face, it wasn't hard to figure out that he was an elephant or mammoth Faunus, though the large size of the tusks were unusual. Tusks generally only grew as thick as your forearms, not as thick as your thighs like Jaing's were.

Looking down at Artus, Jaing said, "He didn't smell like a Faunus before. He still doesn't now." Jaing turned to look at Jaune. "However, you said you come from a long line of Huntsmen, stretching back to the Great War. You must have inherited some innate combat instincts, especially if you have older sisters who are already respectable Huntresses."

CRDL and Jaune were getting farther and farther away, so Blake couldn't catch the response Jaune gave. Whatever it was that he said, it prompted Jaing to say, "Don't worry, Jaune. If you've been keeping up with your studies, as you should be, then today's lesson should be easy enough." With one last whining groan from Jaune, he and his apparent tutors were over the hill and out of earshot.

Sometimes, Blake wasn't sure if CRDL liked to talk a lot of dirt for the sake making noise or if they were legitimately bigoted against Faunus. Artus was probably the former since Blake's seen him flirt with Velvet Scarlatina often enough. Jango was the most silent out of the bunch. Blake was pretty sure he only went along with the insensitive jokes and language just to indulge his teammates. He was more indifferent to Faunus than anything, but indifference to the problems Faunus have to go through only let legitimate bigots go on uncontested. Canderous was the most likely to be an actual racist. His proud and arrogant attitude fit right in with other sanctimonious, ignorant human supremacists that Blake has met and seen.

Jaing Durge was a Faunus. His team joked constantly about Faunus, but it never seemed to bother him. Jaing must be numb to the insults or simply didn't care. Either way, it hardly looked like he was going to try to put a stop to the disrespectful jests and gags against his own people.

His position as a Mandalorian must matter more to him than his status as a Faunus.

As Blake turned away from the hill, she could hear Ruby grumbling to Weiss. "But they're going to go beat Jaune up," she was saying as she kneeled at the base of a tree while gathering red sap. "Maybe not Jango, but I know Canderous will!"

"Canderous can be crude and blunt," Weiss said in what sounded like a condescending tone, "but he isn't some common thug. If he was, then Professor Goodwitch would have had him expelled long ago."

Blake had already written off Canderous as a thug. She was surprised the proud and proper Schnee heiress would respect a bruiser like him, but Blake supposed that Canderous was a talented enough fighter and professional enough to work with (when he wasn't spouting Faunus stereotypes and lambasting "weak warriors," that is).

Ruby and Weiss continued to have their little argument. Yang, who was extracting her own sap at an adjacent tree, rolled her eyes and sent Blake a helpless shrug. Ruby has been advocating for them and JNPR to confront CRDL and to get Jaune to make amends with Pyrrha. However, Pyrrha had made it clear to RWBY that JNPR would handle their own internal team drama, and that who Jaune decided to spend time with was wholly his choice. Pyrrha's words did little to convince Ruby, but it was enough for Weiss, Blake, and Yang to agree that Jaune's relationship with Pyrrha and CRDL wasn't any of their business.

Young, inexperienced, and naïve as she was, Ruby still hasn't given up on trying to persuade her team to "go beat up Canderous so that he'll stop beating up Jaune." While Blake usually wouldn't complain about showing an obvious brute the sharp edge of her weapon, Yang and Weiss kept out-voting Ruby. Blake more or less abstained, not feeling very empathetic for Jaune's quandry. If there was one thing Blake could agree with Canderous, it was that Jaune should already have grown a decent backbone if he's supposed to be a student Huntsman in the world-renowned Beacon Academy.

Blake took another gander at the surrounding trees. A soft breeze passed through the air, so Blake let her hidden cat ears flow with the wind. Her bow fluttered with the movement.

She could faintly hear giant, bare footsteps brushing against grass, twigs, and foliage. Blake remembered waking up to such sounds while taking refuge in one of the southern camps during her White Fang days. When she had asked a lieutenant what the noise was, he had explained that it was an Ursa Major stalking through the forest. The camp had outworn its stay, almost overwhelming in negative emotion after an unlucky string of failed missions, so the lieutenant had ordered their White Fang cell to retreat and regroup rather than confront the Grimm.

A single Ursa Major shouldn't be too much of a challenge, and from the volume of its stomps, it wasn't too far away. "I'm going to take a look around the perimeter," Blake told her team. Ruby and Weiss were too preoccupied arguing. Yang, slurping some sap after having seen Nora down an entire jar of the stuff, gave a clumsy salute as a sign of acknowledgement.

Blake spring into the air and hopped across tree branches. The footsteps were soon replaced by low guttural growls. Blake put Gambol Shroud into its gun mode and readied it, her eyes scanning the tree line for black fur and white bones.

Before long, Blake arrived to the edge of a small clearing. Just as she expected, there was the Ursa Major pacing along the other side of the glade.

Jaune, shield held high and sword held low, stood at the center of the clearing. The Ursa Major was glowering its soulless red eyes at him with a sidelong look.

Canderous, Jango, and Artus were situated directly under the branch Blake was standing on. Too focused on Jaune and the Grimm, they were none the wiser to Blake's presence.

"Remember, Arc," Canderous hollered, "it's not just your soiled jeans that Grimm can smell. Grimm can _literally_ smell your fear. The more you let the fear consume your senses, the easier the Grimm will find tearing you apart limb from limb."

Sipping from a jar of red sap, Artus held up a lien chit. "I've got five-to-one odds that the Ursa literally does tear off a limb."

"Arc's Aura reserves are too high for that," Jango commented as he leaned against a tree trunk. He was on his scroll, flipping through pages of what appeared to be wanted posters on the screen. "There's better odds of him unlocking his semblance."

"Do you mean that you're betting on Jaune discovering his semblance instead?"

"I mean that I'm not betting at all. I've learned my lesson before. I'm not gambling with you again."

Artus pocked his lien and sent his teammate a taunting smirk. "Please, Jango. Don't blame me for your failures in our last hunt together. Perhaps you aren't _jatnese be te jatnese_ after all."

Blake didn't understand those last words Artus spoke. They certainly sounded Mandalorian in nature. It may have been an insulting phrase since Jango closed his scroll and clenched his fists. "We aren't in the city anymore," Jango grunted, leering his expressionless face at Artus. "You don't have your clan to fall back on here. If you really want to see undeniable prove of who's the better Huntsman..."

Canderous got between Jango and Artus and shoved them back from each other. "Not now! We can hold a match in the battle circle for you two later. For now, we're here to see Arc finally earn his stripes."

The Ursa barreled into Jaune. While Jaune's shield protected himself from getting eaten whole, it got caught between the various bony spikes extending off of the Ursa's body. Jaune yelped frightened screeches as the Ursa thrashed around. It eventually left the clearing and sped back into the forest.

"Damn it, Arc," Canderous muttered under his breath. He shouldered the sling for his heavy blaster and beckoned at his team. "Jango, circle around and cut them off. Don't let them stray too far away. Artus and I will make sure Jaune stays alive if the Grimm proves too much for him."

Jango nodded wordlessly. His jetpack spewing orange flames, he flew into the sky and became a vague blob along the skyline. As Canderous and Artus began jogging on the ground, Artus asked, "Are we leaving Jaing behind?"

"He'll take care of the sap and keep the class and Goodwitch from finding out about Arc's real initiation. Come on! We can't let the Grimm outrun us!"

Blake couldn't help but frown. Her own opinion on Jaune aside, this was barbaric treatment. Forcing Jaune, a less than proficient warrior, to fend for himself against an Ursa Major, a relatively difficult Grimm for lower division combat academy students to defeat, was too cruel and cold-hearted. If Blake was a professor, she would have assigned Jaune hours worth of remedial training, or maybe even suspend him from classes outright if he failed to get his act together. She never would have thrown Jaune to the wolves and tell him to toughen up or die trying.

That was something Adam had done to one of the younger White Fang recruits. He had been only a year younger than Blake, and she had barely gotten to know him before they were burying his body in an unmarked grave, where the authorities or his parents would never find him.

Canderous may have said that he wanted to make sure Jaune doesn't get himself killed, but this was still behavior that would warrant expulsion for all of CRDL. As one hand slipped to her back pocked to pull out her scroll, she scanned the area for Jaing. If he was supposed to be on guard duty, alert for any students or Professor Goodwitch who might wander into Jaune's "real initiation," Jaing probably did another sweep of the area when his team left. Though Blake felt fairly secure under the shadow of her tree, Jaing was still a Faunus who had a better chance of spotting her than the other Mandalorians.

Blake had opened up her scroll, just about to navigate to her contacts list, when the cat Faunus made eye contact with Jaing. He was a few yards away, on the ground and surrounded by jars of red sap.

Jaing raised his arm. A blinding red light flashed for a split second. In the moment after, Blake lost her footing. The branch she was standing on was suddenly disconnected from the tree. The smell of charred wood filled her nostrils as she jumped to another branch on another tree. More flashes of light – thermal projectiles from a wrist-mounted blaster, no doubt – followed, destroying more branches and forcing Blake to remain on the move.

As another tree branch faltered under Blake's feet, she created a shadow clone to distract Jaing. The clone continued jumping from branch to branch while the real Blake made herself scarce by hiding behind the large, wide trunk of a tree. She heard rapid, heavy footsteps whizz behind her. Finally free to catch her breath, Blake went back to her scroll and brought up Goodwitch's number.

Forcing Jaune to fight a Grimm in a somewhat controlled, gladiator-like duel was one thing. Raising arms against and blatantly assaulting a fellow student was something else entirely.

Before Blake's finger could hit the holographic "call" button, the footsteps abruptly spiked in volume. Turning toward the sound, Blake looked down the sight of her gun. A force that might as well have been a freight train charged into her.

Her grip on her scroll fell apart instantly. The device was flung in a random direction while Blake fired point blank at Jaing. Her Dust bullets dented his armor, but they didn't slow him down by much. The sharp ends of Jaing's tusks skidded off of Blake's Aura shielding. Most of her Aura was focused on diminishing the damage done by the weight of Jaing's forehead plowing into her stomach. Lifting his head, the top of Jaing's helmet impacted against Blake's chin. Her teeth grinded as she involuntary chewed on her gums. Jaing grabbed Blake's wrists and pinned her to the grassy floor.

Blake's weapon hand was basically useless. She couldn't get it pointed to the right angle to get another shot off at Jaing. There was no momentum to blindside Jaing with Gambol Shroud's sword form either. Blake's Aura-enhanced flailing kicks didn't help her situation, unfortunately.

"Settle down," Jaing said. His voice was also altered slightly by a noise filter. "I don't want to fight you any more than I have to."

"Then why did you attack me in the first place?" Blake hissed angrily. She stopped her struggling, but she was ready to start again if an opportunity to escape became available to her. "Is keeping your private little initiation for Jaune a secret so serious that you would try to kill one of your classmates?"

"I wasn't trying to kill you," Jaing said in an attempt to placate Blake. "This is simply a private Mandalorian affair. Professor Goodwitch wouldn't understand why Jaune must undergo his _true_ initiation, and neither do you."

A "Mandalorian affair." Blake scoffed. "Don't hide behind excuses. Being Mandalorians doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want whenever you want. I hardly know Jaune, but I'm enough of a decent human being to know what you're doing to him is wrong."

Jaing was silent for a moment. "A decent human being?" he said after a short pause. "Aren't you a Faunus?"

Immediately, Blake's panic skyrocketed. No one at Beacon should know that she was a Faunus. Contrary to popular belief, Faunus didn't have an identifiable scent to differentiate themselves from humans. It was all in the heightened senses and extra body parts. Further, while she's expressed sympathy and spoken with other Faunus students out loud, Blake has never revealed her own Faunus features. Someone connecting Blake Belladonna's past with the white Fang was too high a risk.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked, faking an incredulous tone. "I'm not a–"

"Adam trained you," Jaing interrupted, and Blake felt herself grow incredibly cold. "He wasn't your first teacher, but you were his first student. He said that you'd go far in the White Fang. How is Adam, by the way? I assume you're still in contact with him. He and I haven't been able to correspond between letters for a while now."

Jaing waited for Blake to respond. For longer than she would have liked, she couldn't find her voice, too overwhelmed by Jaing words. He knows Adam? He corresponded letters with Adam? Jaing even knows about who Blake was, except he didn't know that Blake wasn't with the White Fang anymore.

Eventually, Blake quietly said, "Get off me."

Obliging, Jaing released his clutches around Blake's wrists. He stood up and offered a hand. Blake took it and pulled herself to her feet. "I didn't mean for our first meeting to be so heated," Jaing apologized. "Truthfully, I've been a little out of practice since leaving the White Fang. I was more zealous in chasing after you than I should have been."

So Jaing wasn't currently with the White Fang either. The question was whether he was one of the honest social activists or one of the violent radicals. "How do you know Adam?" Blake asked. "He's never mentioned a Jaing Durge to me before. Neither have the other members."

"I've known Adam for a long time," Jaing said. Tilting his head in what may have been a gesture of contemplation, Jaing explained, "I'm not much of a swordsman, but I taught him what I could. I was his teacher. One of them, at least. Then we became partners. Brothers, I would call ourselves. Probably not too unlike your own relationship with him."

Adam never referenced or elaborated on any teachers or close brothers. White Fang members called one another brothers and sisters, but Mandalorian culture considered brotherhood and sisterhood, blood related or not, much more important and poignant than other faiths. Why didn't Adam tell her about Jaing? "Why did you leave the White Fang, then?"

Jaing lowered his gaze and shrugged. "As I'm sure you can tell, I'm a Mandalorian first, and a Faunus second. Your father was a fine leader, but too... unmotivated to adapt to the escalating situation regarding human treatment of Faunus." Blake could tell Jaing had less polite words in mind to describe Ghira Belladonna. She was happy Jaing didn't. Otherwise, Blake might have been forced to instigate another fight. "Sienna Khan has more spirit, but she also has too much ambition. The bombings, assassinations, sabotage, thefts; the White Fang fights for superiority rather than equality now. I wanted no part in such things."

Honestly, Blake was a little surprised by Jaing's reasoning. "I thought Mandalorians loved fighting."

"We do," Jaing confirmed. "However, the circumstances for why we fight still matter. It's the same difference between competing in a regional tournament and brawling frivolously in an underground fight club. For myself, the path of a Huntsman should yield far greater honor than the path of the White Fang. Don't you agree?"

"Yes, actually," Blake found herself saying. She couldn't say she disagreed, after all. "I'm... There's a reason I've been keeping my Faunus features a secret."

"You're on an undercover assignment," Jaing deduced, surprising Blake with how wrong he was. "I can't say I approve of Adam's newest tactics. I always favored honest battle over subterfuge. Deception never ends well once found out. Still, I didn't want to interfere with whatever your mission is, so I've kept my distance from–"

"It's not that," Blake cut him off. Respiring a silent breath, she decided to take a leap of faith. "I left the White Fang, too. I couldn't handle how we became so focused on hating humans instead of human-Faunus equality. I wanted something more... honorable than that. That's why I'm here at Beacon. I'm not a spy. I'm just another student."

Jaing slowly nodded in understanding. "I see. I had thought that... from Adam's letters, I assumed..."

Blake shook her head. "Adam and I... aren't on speaking terms."

"I don't need to know the details," Jaing said as he waved a dismissive hand. "Adam and I have never had much luck with women."

"We weren't –"

"Moving on," Jaing continued, "I would appreciate it if you don't tell Goodwitch about Jaune's initiation ceremony. Tell your team if you want, but not to any of the professors. Let Jaune earn his place in Beacon and his place as a Mandalorian. Canderous is an honorable man. Whether Jaune fails or is victorious, he will make sure Jaune still lives to talk about it."

Jaune's plight hardly mattered anymore compared to the fact that Jaing was also formerly White Fang and apparently knew Adam personally. "I won't tell the professors, as long as you don't tell anyone about who I was before."

"I'll have to tell my team, but other than that, your secret is safe with me."

Something about Canderous knowing that Blake was a Faunus and a former White Fang member didn't sit right with her. "Does your team know about your past?" Blake asked. "Do you trust them that much?"

"Of course. Why would I call them brothers if I did not trust them? I may not agree with or like everything they say or do, but all their bluster and wisecracks about Faunus generalizations are all done in good jest. When it comes down to it, they couldn't care less if you're a Faunus. Personality traits and the actions you take matter far more than biological differences to a good Mandalorian."

Blake still didn't trust Canderous or Jango, but she'll have to take Jaing's word for what it was. "If you say so."

"I do say so. I am a man of my word."

Noise began to steadily fill Blake's ears again. She turned to face the noise. Canderous, screaming his head off, was flying through the air and hit the midsection of the tree Jaing and Blake were standing beside. His armor and Aura should have prevented any serious damage when he fell like a rock to the ground, but he still groaned in pain.

"Canderous?" Jaing asked in concern, kneeling to help his team leader up.

"There's an entire pack of Ursai out there," Canderous huffed through a shuddering breath. "Arc's fear, Jango and Artus' pissing contest, and I suppose my own irritation with all of them gave away our position. There's admittedly more than we can handle on our own." When Canderous stood up, he fixated his gaze squarely on Blake. "What the hell is Belladonna doing here?"

A ferocious roar prevented Blake from answering. As a pair of Ursa Majors rushed toward them, Canderous, Jaing, and Blake unloaded their firearms at them. The Grimms' faces became unrecognizable charred messes as they crashed into each other. More Ursai were slowly emerging out of the woodwork. Bursts of red light glimmered farther, deeper into the forest beyond them. Artus and Jango must still be in the thick of it against the Grimm with Jaune somewhere caught in the middle.

"Blake!" shouted a voice from behind Blake. She whipped her head around. The rest of RWBY and JNPR were making their arrival. Ruby was at the forefront. "We heard gunshots earlier and you never answered your scroll. What happened?"

The nearby Grimm roared again. Jaing held up his wrist-mounted blasters and began firing, temporarily deafening everyone in the immediate vicinity. "Strike first," he yelled, almost as loud as the Grimm, "talk later!" He hopped onto one Ursa's bulky neck and began riding the beast. Everyone followed Jaing's lead and sprang into battle.

Blake found herself stepping in sync with Yang. Shooting off potshots and opportune swings of her sword, Blake distracted and misdirected the Grimm while Yang unleashed shotgun blasts to finish them off. Yang's slacker ways when it came to studying fortunately wasn't the case when it came to practicing combat routines.

"Team CRDL didn't try to jump you or anything," Yang asked as she weaved around a claw swipe and punched an Ursa's head clean off, "like how they've been basically jumping Jaune. Did they?"

"They didn't," Blake answered calmly. She glanced at Jaing, who was ramming his Ursa Major into the smaller sized Grimm. "Actually, I think I may have made a new friend today."

Yang's confusion was obvious, but the blonde shoved her bemusement aside and returned her attention back to the battle. While Blake wasn't sure if she should reveal her past to her whole team quite yet (especially since Weiss Schnee still acted like the spoiled princess Blake expected she'd be), she'll tell them a half-truth about her unexpected understanding with Jaing later.

This wouldn't be the last conversation she and Jaing were going to have. Of that, Blake was certain.


	4. Chapter 4

Ren loved Nora. He really did. They watched one another's backs and took care of each other for over half their lives. There was no one else Ren loved and trusted unconditionally. If one day, God forbid, Nora disappeared from his life without warning or for any reason, Ren didn't know what he would do with himself.

Despite all this, sometimes, Ren really asked himself on why he and Nora were still friends.

"Miss Valkyrie will need to spend the rest of the weekend in the infirmary," Professor Goodwitch was saying as she tapped a finger on her scroll. "Ample time to write up an adequately thought-out, well intentioned essay expressing her deepest regrets for her misbehavior. Wouldn't you agree, Mister Ren?"

With a tired sigh, Ren nodded his head. "Of course, Professor."

Goodwitch's cold eyes stared at Ren's mostly emotionless expression for a little while longer. Before long, she said, "Bear in mind that the essay must be written by her own hand. Help her and provide advice as you wish during the infirmary's visiting hours, but if I suspect any plagiarism or forgery..."

"I understand, Professor," Ren said respectfully. "She'll have the essay done by next class. I'll make sure of it."

"See that she does." Goodwitch turned her back to Ren and began to saunter off. "Mister Ordo will be dealt his own punishment accordingly, but if Miss Valkyrie is caught snorting any more powdered Dust, of the lightning variety or otherwise, further disciplinary action will have to be taken."

"Yes, Professor."

Once Goodwitch turned the corner and was out of sight, Ren leaned against a wall and ran an exasperated hand through his hair. This was why Ren occasionally questioned his friendship with Nora. Had she not known you weren't supposed to snort only partially refined powdered Dust, he wouldn't feel as annoyed with her as he did. But she did know, and she didn't care about the potential side effects of a defective semblance or an oscillating, unstable Aura. Ignoring the dangers, she went off and took on Canderous Ordo's childish dare, inhaling the Dust with no regrets.

Still, Ren couldn't help but smile fondly when, after the Dust explosion of fire, rainclouds, and lightning had subsided, Nora had become a helpless bubble of uncontrollable laughter. Her semblance-augmented bear hug could have crushed Ren's spine, but he had returned the embrace regardless.

Ren looked out a floor-to-ceiling window. The sun was setting. Visiting hours would end soon, but there was just enough time for Ren to pay Nora visit and prep her for the inevitable essay.

As he navigated through sterile white hallways, Ren let his thoughts drift to today's events that had led to Nora's confinement in the infirmary. It was a few days after the unexpected Grimm incursion during the field trip to Forever Fall. JNPR's team leader was still distant and still seen in the company of Team CRDL, but Jaune seemed to be talking with Pyrrha again. Pyrrha had requested that she and Jaune hash things out alone, so Ren and Nora gave them their space and went to get an early start on dinner. They ran into Canderous Ordo and Jango Fett. Between Canderous' sneering taunts and Nora's willingness to break a certain Mandalorian's legs, one thing led to another, and Nora landed herself into the infirmary.

Fortunately, Nora came out of the whole ordeal without any permanent damage. All she had was a deficient Aura that had taken the brunt of the Dust explosion. It would take at least a week for her Aura to reconstitute itself well enough for any combat-oriented activity. Ren had been behind Nora when the explosion went off, so he was left mostly unharmed.

Canderous' armor had likely protected him from the blast of Dust energy, but Jango's Aura levels had been apparently drained during an afternoon sparring match. Jango had been blown clear by the burst of Dust, and his armor hadn't prevented his limbs from getting twisted and dislocated as the force of the explosion sent him careening through a thin wall.

Nora and Jango had been carted away for treatment when they arrived at the infirmary. Ren didn't know where Canderous had wandered off to, but Ren had stayed in the waiting room until Professor Goodwitch arrived and explained the situation to Ren.

The first staircase Ren came across was closed off, being tended to by construction workers. If Ren remembered correctly, a student had had a weapons malfunction and nearly toppled the entire set of stairs. So, Ren made his way to the nearby elevators.

Someone was already waiting patiently by the elevators. He spotted Ren approaching and gave a polite nod.

"You're here to pay your teammate a visit, too?" Artus Lok asked.

Ren nodded wordlessly. While the rest of Ren's team and their friends in Team RWBY all seemed to have some grudge set against CRDL, Ren didn't share the animosity or care to participate in it. For one thing, reveling in outright enmity and antagonism with another huntsmen team could spell disaster when they are inevitably sent into the field and on missions. The Ursai attack during the recent field trip was proof of that. For another, Ren has met enough of the occasional Mandalorian drifter during his days scouring and scavenging outside the Kingdoms with Nora to know that being a Mandalorian wasn't inherently a bad thing.

"I've been telling Canderous to settle things with Nora for weeks now," Artus said. "With all those threats about breaking his legs, I thought they would schedule a match during dueling class. I didn't think he'd try getting her to snort his stash of Dust powder."

Canderous may be the cause of Nora's injuries today, but the rest of his team seemed like decent people. As such, Ren chose not to outright give Artus the cold shoulder. Ren was far from an outspoken conversationalist, so he would answer any inquiries from Artus with the same courtesy Ren gives to everyone.

As the elevator door opened, and Ren and Artus stepped in, Artus added, "I think Canderous likes her. If Nora keeps up her happy-go-lucky attitude when she swings that giant hammer of hers, you might have some competition on your hands, Lie."

"I go by Ren," Ren said, mostly out of habitual instinct, "and there's no competition to be had. Nora and I aren't in a romantic relationship." And Canderous was far from being an attractive suitor to Nora.

"I don't believe you," Artus said flatly as he pressed a button on the elevator panel. It was the same floor Nora's room was supposed to be on. She and Jango were probably temporary roommates for their stay in the infirmary. "I've seen too many friends dance around their toes in the will-they-won't-they game. Your other teammates, Jaune and Pyrrha, are bad enough. If you and Nora start playing that game, I think that I'll completely lose hope in your team."

Ren had no desire to discuss his team's romantic ventures. Monotone, he said, "Is Canderous finished tutoring Jaune, or is the mentorship still ongoing?"

Artus shrugged lackadaisically. "I haven't really been following Jaune's progress. If you ask Jaing, Jaune's made leaps and bounds in improving himself. If you ask Canderous, he's still a _hut'uunla adiik_."

A "cowardly child" was the translation. Cowardly was a rather harsh description, but child was going too far. "Jaune never gave the impression that he was comfortable with being the team leader," Ren relented, "but he's growing into it. Jaune can be a quick thinker and a fast talker when he needs to be."

"Takes more than a wannabe womanizer to make a good leader," Artus said. "Just think about it for a second. Why didn't Ozpin make you the leader? You're a quiet sort, but your grades are the best out of all the first-years."

Ren's facial expression never changed, but internally, he suddenly felt more inquisitive. "How do you know my grades are the best?"

"You've seen Jango," Artus whispered conspiratorially. "If you think Nora and Canderous egging each other on is bad, Jango's competitive streak is even worse. He wants to graduate at the top of the class, become the best damn huntsman to grace Remnant. He knows a guy who knows a guy who knows how his ways around scrolls and got him the freshman class grades. Jango wanted to personally size up the competition."

That seemed like a rather extreme measure, hacking into the school mainframe just to see other students' grades. "Regardless," Artus continued, "you're smart, you're a good fighter, and you've got experience of what it's like outside the Kingdoms. If that doesn't make for a good leader, then I don't know what does."

Ren rarely kept himself conscious of his own pride or shame, so Artus' praise did little to endear himself to Ren. Something Artus said did peek Ren's interest, however. "What do you mean by experience outside the Kingdoms?"

Artus had a wide, easygoing smile on his face. "Jango didn't just get everyone's grades. He's got everyone's transcripts, yours and Nora's included. I don't mean to pry, but roughing it in the untamed wilderness, outside the walls of a Kingdom keeping the Grimm at bay, years before you were even legally old enough to drink in Vale – I'm surprised Canderous decided to spend his time whipping Jaune into shape instead of inviting you and Nora to become Mandalorians. Self-made Huntsmen, building their careers from rags to riches, are stuff he eats up."

With a frown, Ren said, "I'd rather we not talk about where Nora and I were after our village was destroyed." If Artus read the essays Ren and Nora wrote along with the rest of their transcripts, then he should know at least the basics of what happened at Kuroyuri. "I like my privacy."

"That's fine," Artus responded. "I only wanted to clarify that I know you are a man of talent and skill. We may be student huntsmen, but that shouldn't prevent us from utilizing our talents to their fullest potential."

"I'm not interested in becoming a Mandalorian," Ren asserted firmly and quickly. He had nothing against Mandalorians. He was simply neutral toward Mandalorian customs and had no inspiration to immerse himself in them.

The elevator stopped moving. Its doors opened. Ren walked ahead while Artus trailed after him. "As disappointed as I am to hear that," Artus said without sounding disappointed in the slightest, "that's not what I was actually referring to. You don't have to be a Mandalorian to listen to what I have in mind."

Ren relaxed his stride, but he still maintained a brisk pace. Visiting hours would be over before long. "And what do you have in mind?"

"A job, for you and I. Nothing as mischievous and idiotic as snorting Dust, but a job that pays well and puts your abilities into good use."

"Pays well" is what caused Ren to halt. Living economically and frugally was key in scraping up enough money, respect, and favors to construct his and Nora's signature weapons. The slums of Mistral's outer city weren't the kindest of places, but after trekking through Anima's Grimm-infested territory, Ren and Nora had grown enough thick skin and street smarts to get by.

A lack of money had stopped being a huge hindrance after becoming hunters-in-training.

Turning to Artus, Ren said, "I don't need the lien."

Likely seeing Ren's pause in his pace as a minor victory, Artus swerved around Ren and got ahead of him in the hallway. "You live in a Kingdom. If we didn't have Grimm or Dust, it'd be lien that's what makes Kingdoms go round. Still, if it's not money you want, then I have something else." Artus reached into his back pocket and pulled out a parchment of paper. He handed it to Ren.

Drawn with messy crayon was a figure of a burly horse. The upper body of a stick figure stood atop the horse's back. The many lines sticking haphazardly from the stick figure's torso could have been mistaken for multiple arms, but Ren knew better. The picture resembled a special type of Grimm that Ren often saw during his research ventures on Grimm or in his nightmares. Ren felt his blood run cold, and he narrowed his eyes at Artus.

"Is this supposed to be a joke?" Ren asked hotly. Artus held his hands up in a placating gesture.

"It's an opportunity, for the both of us" Artus answered. "A friend of my family runs a plantation south of the city. Around the time the school year started, that friend stopped responding to our calls. A Huntsman on my clan's payroll was sent to investigate. All the crops were dead, all the cattle slaughtered, all the farmhands killed. That drawing was found in the wreckage."

Ren vaguely recalled hearing about an attack on a plantation. It was the story the news anchor had reported on just before covering how Roman Torchwick mishandled a Dust robbery and was foiled by Ruby and Professor Goodwitch. "The news said Beowolves and Ursai were the Grimm that overran the farm."

"My clan has people in the Vale News Network. I'm not talking about my team. Canderous likes to refer to CRDL as all members of Clan Ordo, but I have my own clan in the City of Vale. Clan Lok, under the banner of House Lok with other assorted Mandalorian clans. Perhaps you've heard us."

"I've heard of House Lok," Ren said. There were mentions of a House Lok and other Mandalorian "Houses" when he and Nora were doing odd jobs for Mistral's criminal underground. If Ren's memory didn't fail him, he was fairly sure House Lok was some sort of crime syndicate situated in Vale, or at least a Mandalorian organization that Mistral's underground recognized as a mobster family.

"It doesn't take a genius to connect the dots between the kid's drawing, the spoiled crops, and Nuckelavee Grimm," Artus went on. A Nuckelavee's breath was rumored be able to poison vegetation and farm animals, to sow discord in isolated, downtrodden communities before attacking outright. "Probably not the one who has been wiping out villages in Mistral, but a live, dangerous one nonetheless."

Ren wasn't so sure. Nuckelavee Grimm were also rumored to be able to travel by sea, though how such an unwieldy body can swim across large bodies of water eluded Ren. "What does this have to do with me?" Ren asked. "What exactly is this job that you have in mind?"

"There's a rite of passage Mandalorian children have to go through while growing up," Artus explained, "in order to officially be recognized as a respectable adult among the clan and the community. We call it the v _erd'goten_. We usually undergo the trials when we reach the age of thirteen. Unlike Jango or Canderous, I wasn't born _Mando'ad_ ; I was adopted into Clan Lok. So, I'm doing my v _erd'goten_ a few years late.

"To shorten a long story of politics, backstabbing, and inter-clan drama, my v _erd'goten_ is to find this Nuckelavee and eliminate it. It's more than likely a death sentence for me, but I managed to convince my Clan Chief that I can employ outside help to assist me in my hunt."

"Why not ask someone from your own team for help?" Ren suggested. "You can ask your combat partner, Jaing."

Artus shook his head. "They can't help me. I would ask Jaing, but with the recent White Fang raids and terrorist attacks, House Lok hasn't looked too kindly on Faunus lately. The heat and controversy that would stir up if Jaing helped me on my hunt puts the reputation of my clan at risk. Canderous has his own reputation, and my enemies in House Lok would credit him for defeating the Nuckelavee rather than myself. As for Jango..."

The Mandalorian gave a humorless chuckle. "If I tell Jango that I have a lead on a Nuckelavee, then he'll want to find it and kill it before anyone else. He's still building his own reputation, even more so than how I'm trying to build mine. Jango is competition, whereas you are a potential ally."

From Artus' tone, Ren could sense some tension between him and Jango. While a surprising bit of information – CRDL was consistently applauded by the professors for their efficiency in teamwork – Ren had more important things to mull over. "Then why come to me? Let's ignore the breach in privacy in you reading Nora's and my transcripts. I don't need any money that you have to offer," though money was admittedly an enticing incentive, "and I doubt there's enough time between classes to go on an excursion south of Vale to hunt for a rare, powerful Grimm." Ren turned his back to Artus and resumed his walk to Nora's room.

"The Vytal Festival is coming up," Artus pointed out, following after Ren again. "The celebrations are starting earlier this year. Factoring in the break between semesters, that should give us enough time to track down the Nuckelavee before the tournament starts, giving you plenty of time to train with your team and to enjoy yourself with Nora."

"Assuming I accept your offer, that is."

Finally, Ren reached the door with the correct room number. As Ren reached to open the door, Artus moved quickly and blocked Ren's hand. "Let's say that you do help me on my hunt," Artus said quickly. Ren could detect a hint of desperation. "You get an exorbitant amount of money, that we can discuss in specifics at a later date. You get firsthand experience in hunting down the same type of Grimm that destroyed Kuroyuri. I'll even throw in a no-questions asked favor from myself, courtesy of House Lok. You bring along Nora, and the money, experience, and favors are doubled. The experience is self-explanatory, what with your history with Nuckelavee. Money and favors can get you better armor, Dust munitions, reading material – perhaps take Nora out for a good night on the town. It's your choice."

At Artus' charismatic smile, Ren only stared on silently. His patience was finally wearing thin. He only wanted to visit Nora, inform her of Goodwitch's essay, have a pleasant conversation with Nora, and bid her goodnight.

Soon enough, Artus' smile lost its confidence. Artus faced the door and turned the knob. Over his shoulder, Artus quietly murmured, "Your semblance is a natural deterrent against Grimm. That's the main reason why I approached you with this job opportunity. I don't know if Ozpin has plans for you, but let's say that you don't want any of the incentives I've offered. If you don't want any rewards for yourself or Nora, then perhaps you'd rather stay true to huntsman doctrine; help me hunt this Nuckelavee purely to eliminate another known threat to humanity."

"There should be other, older, professional Huntsman already on the job," Ren commented.

Artus glanced back at Ren with a hard look. "I didn't get to where I am today by waiting on the sidelines and letting others take action before I could. Learning through theory and textbooks can only help you for so long until you have to take action for yourself."

Ren and Artus entered the room. Nora laid sprawled on her bed, positioned at the end of the room by the window. She was snoring loudly with a snot bubble expanding and contracting from her nostrils. Jango, on a cot across from Nora, laid on his side while he pressed a pillow against his head, likely trying to muffle the noise of Nora's snores.

Artus pulled over a chair as he strolled toward Jango. "Still have your head on, at least," Artus greeted goodheartedly, inciting a disgruntled groan from Jango. Artus slipped his scroll out from the depths of his cape. "Don't worry. The doctors said you'll be out before you even know it. As for why I'm here, I've brought a peace offering."

From where Ren was standing, he couldn't see much of what was on the scroll's screen that Artus showed Jango. Ren could swear that there was an image of a girl with orange hair like Nora's, but the girl's eyes were green instead of aqua-colored, so Ren dismissed the picture entirely and put his attention entirely on Nora herself.

There was a small pink bandage on Nora's cheek. For a brief moment, Ren was reminded of the first few days after Kuroyuri when he and Nora were hiking across forestry, scavenging nuts and berries for sustenance, and building makeshift lean-tos for shelter. Ren had found multi-colored bandages infused with Dust at one point. When he and Nora had had an unfortunate encounter with an infantile but ferocious Grimm, that stash of bandages kept them alive long enough for a tribe of nomads to find them and more competently treat their injuries.

Ren glanced at Artus. As much as Ren wanted to forget about Artus' proposal and focus solely on Nora, Ren couldn't help himself. The offer of money had brought up old predilections that Ren had once silently pledged to never fall back into. The drawing of a Nuckelavee Grimm had stirred up bad memories, so Ren had instinctively wanted to reject whatever sales pitch Artus put forth.

But Artus' parting words resonated with Ren. Taking action was one of the last lessons Ren's father had parted on him. For most of his time in Beacon so far, Ren was content in remaining subservient to the academy staff, the senior students, and his own team. Now that Ren has grown accustomed to the day-to-day routines of school life, he was itching to do something for himself. Becoming a huntsman alongside Nora was always the top priority, but going on an off-the-record hunt, against the same type of Grimm that ruined his and Nora's lives, and earning himself a good paycheck by the end of it couldn't hurt.

Ren will discuss Artus' proposal with Nora later.

 **X**

 **(A/N): And so ends the introductory chapters for the new Mandalorian members of Team CRDL.**

 **When I first started this story, I was mostly going off-the-cuff. The original CRDL are my least favorite antagonists from RWBY, and I wanted to replace them with an interesting cast of characters to make Jaune's story arc more compelling. Enter Canderous Ordo. It was really only supposed to be a one shot. However, s** **ince I established a new dynamic between Canderous and Jaune, I decided I wanted to do the same with other Mando and RWBY characters, resulting with Jango, Jaing, and Artus joining the team with some improvised name changes.**

 **Conversations with my boy _Mandalore the Freedom_ helped lead to sudden strikes of inspiration for how else the story can go. In this wave on inspiration, I wrote up the premises for the other three chapters and just kept going. Writing out the chapters with Canderous and Jango (my favorite Mandalorian characters hands down) were easy enough, but Jaing and Artus were more difficult, partly since there's less media of Jaing and Artus for me to gleam more ideas from.**

 **Further chapters will rotate focus from one Mandalorian to the other, like how you've seen so far. As you can probably tell, Canderous chapters will be from the point of view of Jaune, Jango chapters from Ruby, Jaing chapters from Blake, and Artus chapters from Ren. The POV may change up as time goes on. If you've got any ideas for what other scenarios each Mando-RWBY duo can partake in, feel free to leave a review or send me a PM. If not, I hope you've been enjoying the half-baked ideas I've come up with so far.**

 **The next chapter will revisit Jaune, the Arc having undergone training and apprenticeship under Canderous Ordo's iron fist. Jaune will be confronting his issues with Canderous and Pyrrha in this chapter. Look forward to that in the near future!**


End file.
